


best of wives and best of women

by wikemheeler



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M, eliza and riley both deserve better boys, hamilton song fic, obviously, riley is eliza and maya is angelica
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8428090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wikemheeler/pseuds/wikemheeler
Summary: To be Riley Matthews, is to be a romantic. To be Maya Hart, is to be heartbroken. Neither of them actively pursue these roles, they fell into their laps like two ton tires that they just couldn’t shove off, no matter how hard they pushed. Lucas Friar was the truck that drove those two ton tires into the ground, reminding the best friends of their place in the narrative, reminding them that life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please enjoy!!! hamilton is a huge part of my life at the moment and it's inspiring me to get out of my writing funk. thanks lin lol u the best boi

“Can you believe it Maya? We’re at a real life ball! Just like I’ve always dreamed of!” Riley Matthews said, or, more accurately, erupted joyfully at her best friend, Maya Hart.

“Riles, I don’t know where you’re getting ‘ball’ from, because all I’m getting is whiffs of vomit, sweat, and teenage hormones.” Maya practically shivered in disgust.

In a way, they were both correct. The dresses and the lights and the assorted punches did give their junior prom a very elegant, if that word is anywhere near applicable for a public high school event, sort of motif. But then once your eyes adjusted to the darkness a little bit, you witnessed all of the grinding and boys missing ties and girls with their hair and makeup already looking like a mess. 

Riley glared at Maya, “You’re such a buzzkill, Peaches. Have a little fun, won’t you?”

Fun was not something Maya had a problem with, she was the queen of fun. When she walked into the room, she commanded attention. She breathed fire and made things happen. The president of the “Riot Girls”, a local feminist activist group that spread their message through mural and poetry in the park, every girl wanted to be her and all of the guys were so terrified of her that they wanted her more than anything. And she let them have her, for a day or two, but then it was back to business.  _ Remember Riles, tease ‘em, never please ‘em  _ was her mantra every time she let another boy out to dry. 

On the other hand, Riley was an acquaintance to fun. They had to gone out for coffee once or twice, but fun got bored and never called her back. She was quieter than Maya; if Maya was Fire, Riley was air. Always there to fuel her best friend’s flame, but never one to light the way herself. She had little to no experience with boys, and she liked it that way. She liked her books and her best friend, and that was it. Until a cowboy from Texas showed up. 

His name was Lucas Friar and Riley was absolutely  _ enamored _ with him. He made her heart sing and her hands shake, and, unfortunately, her mouth shut. She knew she wanted to be with him, but she had never actually talked to him because every time he came around, she was absolutely and totally helpless.

* * *

 

The dance drug on and then, in the dark of the banquet hall, she spotted the eyes that she had been writing about for the past four months. He was standing against the wall with all of his buddies, she recognized all of them, and he was staring right at her. 

She hadn’t realized that her dancing had stopped completely or that her mouth was gaped open until Maya elbowed her in the ribs.

“OW Maya! What the hell was that for?” she asked, nursing her left side through her gemmed dress.

Before answering her question, she gives Riley a knowing look, “Riles, it’s been months. Go talk to him. He’s probably drunk anyway so tonight’s the night to make things happen for yourself.”

Riley’s heart still beating at a mile a minute, she shakes her head and starts fidgeting, “You see, like, I understand that but I also understand that like I’m awkward and he won’t want to talk to me so I think I’ll just stand here with you, my perfect, perfect Peaches, doesn’t that sound gr- Wait where are you going?”

She saw Maya stride over to Lucas, the sea of their peers parted for her and Riley’s face faltered at the sight of it. Maya was electric and she was terrified that Lucas would be shocked and would never look twice at her once he heard the way words just flow off of Maya’s tongue.

But just before all of Riley’s hope is lost, Lucas is looking at her again and waving. And then he’s walking over to her, and then he’s taking her hand and smiling.

“May I have this dance?” 

His eyes were even more mystifying up close, and Riley was paralyzed. A blush creeping all along her upper body, she nods and walks away with him, turning around to Maya and making a face that can only be described as a mix between terror and triumph. Maya smiles and gives her best friend a thumbs up and she steps into a whole new story.

With his hands on her waist, fingertips ghosting just below her hips, making her blush intensify, she made her mark on his art. They talked and danced and laughed and she left the dance with a million and one more things to write about her journal when she got home and into the next sunrise. 

* * *

 

They spent every moment together. They were either alone or with Maya, who quickly became very good friends with Lucas which was absolutely everything to Riley. Her two favorite people were some of each other’s favorite people and there’s nothing Riley loved more than some good ol’ fashion friendship. 

Their relationship grew so strong that it was everything to Riley. Her life began and ended with Lucas and his eyes and insightful words were her crutch from reality; she was living in the fairytale she had always wanted. But as she was wrapped up in his words and his strong arms, she seemed to have forgotten that the cost of falling for someone is that they might not be strong enough to hold you up. So as Riley wrote him into her heart on a white horse, his strength faltered under the weight of her full heart and wide eyes.


	2. satisfied i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "at least my dear eliza's his wife, i keep his eyes in my life"

Without waiting for Riley to finish her blubbering about whatever excuses she was making, Maya took matters into her own hands and began her march to Friar country. 

Her stride was unbreakable as her black gown flowed against the current, but the closer she got to the boy of Riley’s dreams, the closer she got to tripping up. She was right about his eyes. They were a color she had never seen before, it was the color she had been searching for her entire semester in AP Studio Art. 

_ He’s a good kid, Hart. He’s Riley’s kid. Keep your stride strong and your hands steady, for her.  _ She reminded herself as she stopped in front of the infamous Friar.

“Hey there Huckleberry, or do you prefer cowboy?”

His face broke into a smile that rearranged his features, “I don’t have a preference as long as you’re the one talking, Hart.”

_ He’s Riley’s kid,  _ she reminded herself as her eyes grew softer by the second, “Well that’s awful sweet of you, kid, but I’m not here to chat. You see that pretty brunette over there?” She asked, pointing to Riley who was awkwardly waiting for Maya to return, “She’s been into you since the second you showed up and I think you’d be good together. You both have the same sunny disposition and good souls. So why don’t you come with me and give her a dance, and maybe even a chance.”

And, with that, she grabbed his hand and began dragging him through the Red Sea.

“What about you, Maya? You got a guy?”

His inquisition made her pause and turn around with enough force to cause a tornado, “What’s it to ya?’

He shrugged, “You just seem like the kind of girl who has never let herself win, that’s all. Why are you putting this much effort into setting me up with Riley, anyway?”

“You don’t know me, cowboy,” she scoffed. 

_ But it really seems like he does, Maya. Listen a little, you might learn something,  _ the angel sitting on her shoulder countered the devil that set up shop in her head and heart.

“I think I do, short stack,” his smirk was too cocky for Maya’s liking.

“No you don’t. I’m fine with where I am and who I am, and I don’t seem someone the likes of you to decide that for me. And I’m helping Riley because she’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, that’s why. You will never meet anyone as trusting or as kind and I see that in you too. You would be good together.”

Sighing, he gave in and made his way towards Riley, “If you say so.”

Once they made their way to Riley, Maya introduced the two of them even though they obviously knew each other. She just wanted to help fulfill Riley’s fantasy of meeting her prince at the ball, it’s the least she could do for all that Riley has done for her.

Riley saved her from a life of detentions and vandalism and never knowing if she was going to wake up with the air missing in her room or not; Riley gave her a reason. And now it was her turn to give back.

But as her and Lucas talked and danced, she tried to hold back the feeling of regret. She tried to remind herself that she did the right thing, and that a pair of eyes could never mean so much. She reminded herself that Lucas Friar isn’t her prince and that girls like Maya Hart don’t get white horses. 

And then, in the coming weeks, she reminded herself that his eyes lingering were just him zoning out, he wasn’t actually watching her leave or searching for her in the crowded hallways. Because he loved Riley. Because Riley loved him. And Riley went first. 

Even when it was just Lucas and Maya hanging out, Riley went first. She made a point to discuss Riley at any chance she got. But then that talk turned to silence and that silence turned to talk that wasn’t about Riley, because it seemed as though he didn’t want to talk about Riley. He wanted to talk about how badly the world needed to change and what he wanted to do to change it. And she wanted to talk about how badly she wanted to help him do just that. So they talked, and talked, and talked about the things neither of them had ever had in common with anyone every before. It was new and exciting but, at the end of the day, he went to school with Riley the next morning, hands intertwined and love letters falling off his lips and the tips of his fingers. 

And she went along, alone, just like she did before. Just like she had always done, and would continue to do. 

_ But at the end of the day _ , she reminded herself,  _ it’s best that he’s here and with her, than without her and out of reach.  _ Because not even she could deny the similarities between the love letters falling off his finger tips and the late night text falling through the screen of his phone and into her heart.


End file.
